As the atmospheric prevalence of carbon dioxide (CO2) has increased over the previous decades, both governments and private entities have increasingly focused on new technologies for reducing and sequestering CO2 and other anthropogenic emissions. This is especially true in the field of power or electricity generation where power plants operate through the combustion of fossil fuels, such as coal or natural gas, and emit significant amounts of CO2 along with other greenhouse gases (GHG). Microorganisms such as microalgae and cyanobacteria (also known as blue-green algae) are well known to consume CO2 as a part of their growth process. Thus, one area of CO2 emission reduction research and technological advancement has been in the development of photobioreactors. A photobioreactor (PBR) may refer to a device or system that supports biological activity or growth and can rely on the use of a light source. Photobioreactors may be used to grow and cultivate microorganisms such as algae or cyanobacteria. Aiding in the microorganisms' growth process, a photobioreactor may be utilized for removal of CO2 and GHG emissions from a power plant or other GHG emitting structure by capturing the emitted CO2 or GHG and introducing it into the photobioreactor. The introduced CO2 or GHG may thus assist the growth of the microorganisms, and the microorganisms' consumption of the flue gas thus operates to remove the GHG from the system, effectively filtering the gaseous emissions. Photobioreactors may also be similarly utilized in a variety of pollution control or treatment systems by relying on the microorganisms grown in the photobioreactor to capture or remove harmful particles, such as fertilizers from runoffs or effluent discharge in farms or chemicals in sewage. In addition to acting as a treatment system, photobioreactors offer the ability to effectively grow and harvest algae, which has many known beneficial uses. Various types of algae are known to be useful as a biofuel, fertilizer, or nutritional source, to name a few current uses for algae.
Presently known photobioreactors tend to be extremely complicated systems consisting of elaborate tube structures with a flow control mechanism for circulating water within the tube structures. In one example of a known photobioreactor, Burbidge et al. reportedly disclose a photobioreactor comprising an upstanding core structure; a plurality of substantially transparent tubes supportable by the core structure; flow means; and withdrawal means, where the plurality of transparent tubes are helically wound in parallel (U.S. Pub. Application No. 2003/0228684). In U.S. Pub. Application No. 2011/0159581, Another example of a known photobioreactor is reported by Zhang et al. to disclose an airlift circulation microalgae photoautotrophic-heterotrophic coupling photo bioreactor for wastewater treatments carbon emission mitigation. Furthermore, non-patent literature including “Closed Photobioreactor Assessments to Grow, Intensively, Light Dependent Microorganisms: A Twenty-Year Italian Outdoor Investigation,” published in 2008 by the Open Biotechnology Journal, generally discusses the state of photobioreactor technology. Each of these references is incorporated herein, by reference, in its entirety.
These and other complex design features increase the cost to produce, install, and operate these known photobioreactors, while not necessarily improving their efficiency or production output. Additionally, due to the size and complication of the system, presently known photobioreactors are usually embodied in large, gaudy structures which have marginal utility beyond the structure's primary purpose as a photobioreactor. Moreover, large structures generally lack transportability. Accordingly, new photobioreactor systems and structures are desired to improve upon one or more of these deficiencies and expand photobioreactors' uses. The invention is directed to these and other important ends.